Letters to the Editor for March 11, 2014

Wise choiceGainesville Regional Utilities provided my family with a low-interest loan to weatherize our porch as well as suggestions about our air-handling system that resulted in an overall decrease of our utility bill by over $100 a month.Given that there will always be environmental costs and price instability in the international gas and oil market and even in the solar energy market, I think that the City Commission's choice to pursue a local, renewable energy source ­— biomass — was a wise one. Even if the cost to homeowners and businesses is now a bit higher than what the cost of other choices would have been, Gainesville will be in a much better position to control costs in the future.In the meantime, the city needs to continue to offer low-interest loans, grants and technical assistance to GRU customers to help them lower their utility costs.Thomas F. Logan,Gainesville

Few resourcesMany of our less fortunate neighbors are struggling to survive. They don't have energy-efficient homes, often don't have access to natural gas, and they've already done all they can do to reduce their electricity use, including freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer. Every month thousands of their homes go completely dark because Gainesville Regional Utilities cuts off their electricity when they can't pay all their bills. GRU has few resources devoted to helping these customers.GRU's so-called forbearance plans only buy days of relief, at best. Our social service agencies have used all their resources and have been unable to stem the flood tide of rising electric cutoffs. But city commissioners who are responsible for turning their backs on these citizens, while delivering tens of millions of dollars a year in excess unnecessary windfall profits to out-of-state energy speculators, leave the poorest among us suffering the most.Ernesto Martinez,Gainesville

Boost teacher payI would love to see Warren Buffett use his influence to help increase the salaries of teachers in all public schools. Our country needs the best teachers we can get. We lose a lot of excellent teachers because they can't afford to teach when salaries are so low.I am a retired teacher from West Virginia. Teaching for 30 years, I had lots of help from my husband. He loved what I was doing. After his death, I had help from my son and still do.I have one big wish to win the lottery and donate the money to raise the salaries of teachers as much as possible. That dream is impossible, of course, so why doesn't Buffett do it? His influence could get other wealthy, patriotic millionaires and billionaires to make this change for all teachers in our country.Geneva R. Waybright,Gainesville

Lack of coverageWe've lived in Gainesville since December 2005 and since then we've been faithful readers of The Sun. As everything in life, we don't always agree with your points of view and media coverage of quite banal news. This time I feel I have to say something about your lack of coverage of the groundbreaking of Peaceful Paths' new shelter.I was there to support this organization as an interested part of the community. It troubles me how much coverage other organizations get. Yet this amazing group that shelters, advises and strives to help abused men, women and children is rarely mentioned in your newspaper.It is not only sad, it is outrageous!Cristina Stuart,Gainesville

Honest debateThe Republican Party is finding itself in a pickle with the immigration reform debate. The moderate business wing realizes that they need to reach out to the Hispanic and Asian communities in order to have success at national polls. The radical tea party wing espouses the no-compromise, no-bargaining style of politics.So how do they resolve this disparity? Fall back on the tried and true ­— blame President Obama. Sen. Marco Rubio and others claim they cannot address immigration reform because Obama cannot be trusted to enforce whatever law they would enact.Really! That did not prevent them from voting 50 times to repeal affordable health care. Nor fast-track the Keystone pipeline, banning public disclosure of oil fracking operations on federal lands, or budget, abortion and a host of other issues.The GOP needs to stop treating the electorate like fools and begin honest debate on this issue.Bob Alexander,Keystone Heights

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